Limits on the Global Distribution of Horseshoe Crabs (Limulacea): Lessons Learned from Two Lifetimes of Observations: Asia and America

Sekiguchi, Koichi; Shuster, Carl N.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-89959-6_1

Cited by 77 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…observ., August 2018). This price surge is believed to be driven by the apparent decline of the horseshoe crab population in the region as: (i) more than 80% of participants perceived an overall horseshoe crab population decline; (ii) 21% of participants reported that they had often consumed horseshoe crabs 10 years ago but not recently; and (iii) 65% of respondents had their first horseshoe crab meal before the 1990s, when a high abundance of horseshoe crabs was reported in the region (Liao & Li, ; Sekiguchi & Shuster, ). Given the irreversible horseshoe crab decline in the region and in other coastal cities in China, the potential consumers are likely to shift from fishers to those with higher income, when horseshoe crab is served at social occasions as ‘precious’ wildlife.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio‐demographic drivers and public perceptions of consumption and conservation of Asian horseshoe crabs in northern Beibu Gulf, China

Huang

et al. 2019

Aquatic Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Overharvesting Asian horseshoe crabs for food is a primary threat to their populations. In the present study, 451 residents were interviewed from the northern Beibu Gulf, the coastal area that is believed to accommodate the highest density of the Chinese horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus worldwide, to obtain baseline information on their consumption behaviour and underlying drivers. Based on the survey data, it is estimated that a mean individual consumption rate of ten meals per year. Nearly half of the respondents (49.7%) claimed that they had previously eaten at least two horseshoe crab meals. Among the six occupation categories (managers, professionals, workers, environmental‐related workers, fishers and farmers, and students), fishers and farmers were identified as the group that had eaten a significantly higher number of horseshoe crab meals, had consumed them more frequently, and had a greater intention of eating them than that of students. The age, education level, and salary of participants were the important socio‐demographic variables related to their consumption behaviour. More than one‐third of respondents decided to consume horseshoe crabs because they perceived them as tasty ‘seafood’ and valuable ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine. Eighty‐three per cent of participants reported an overall decrease in the number of horseshoe crabs in the region. Although the community was supportive towards horseshoe crab conservation, their ecological knowledge of horseshoe crabs was limited. The findings may be useful for providing insights to merge the gap between scientific data and management planning for the horseshoe crab population in the region. Conservation management initiatives, such as the involvement of fishers in monitoring and enforcement, developing a reporting system for landings and by‐catch, and implementing long‐term conservation education through the school curriculum could promote the protection and management of the population.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio‐demographic drivers and public perceptions of consumption and conservation of Asian horseshoe crabs in northern Beibu Gulf, China

Huang

et al. 2019

Aquatic Conservation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They are also referred to as living fossil, since little change has been made in their external morphologies over the last 450 million years 1-3. Phylogenetic relationship among four living horseshoe crabs remains scientifically unresolved yet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus tridentatus (Xiphosura, Arthropoda) and Implications for Chelicerate Phylogenetic Studies

Baek¹,

Choi²,

Jang³

et al. 2014

Int. J. Biol. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Horseshoe crabs (order Xiphosura) are often referred to as an ancient order of marine chelicerates and have been considered as keystone taxa for the understanding of chelicerate evolution. However, the mitochondrial genome of this order is only available from a single species, Limulus polyphemus. In the present study, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial genomes from two Asian horseshoe crabs, Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus tridentatus to offer novel data for the evolutionary relationship within Xiphosura and their position in the chelicerate phylogeny. The mitochondrial genomes of C. rotundicauda (15,033 bp) and T. tridentatus (15,006 bp) encode 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. Overall sequences and genome structure of two Asian species were highly similar to that of Limulus polyphemus, though clear differences among three were found in the stem-loop structure of the putative control region. In the phylogenetic analysis with complete mitochondrial genomes of 43 chelicerate species, C. rotundicauda and T. tridentatus were recovered as a monophyly, while L. polyphemus solely formed an independent clade. Xiphosuran species were placed at the basal root of the tree, and major other chelicerate taxa were clustered in a single monophyly, clearly confirming that horseshoe crabs composed an ancestral taxon among chelicerates. By contrast, the phylogenetic tree without the information of Asian horseshoe crabs did not support monophyletic clustering of other chelicerates. In conclusion, our analyses may provide more robust and reliable perspective on the study of evolutionary history for chelicerates than earlier analyses with a single Atlantic species.

show abstract

“…Spawning/nesting behavior is best documented along the U.S. Atlantic coast and the coast of Florida in areas with semi-diurnal tides (Rudloe 1985, Shuster and Botton 1985, Penn and Brockmann 1994. Nesting by HSC has been documented in microtidal systems (Ehlinger et al 2003), but both Brockmann (2003) and Sekiguchi and Shuster (2009) suggest that tidal amplitude and period is a primary determinant of HSC distributional range through its effects on nesting behavior. Yet, if HSC use the Mississippi barrier islands as nesting habitat, then the reduced tidal range, high wind influence of tides, and the general lack of sandy shoreline along the Mississippi coast may result in key regional differences in spawning and nesting behavior for HSC that need to be accounted for in protecting habitat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Evaluation of Mississippi Barrier Islands as a Spawning and Nesting Habitat for the American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus, with Implications for Island Restoration

Fulford¹,

Haehn²

2012

GCR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The American horseshoe crab (HSC), Limulus polyphemus, is an economically and ecologically important species in the coastal ecosystem. Horseshoe crabs inhabit the continental shelf and estuaries from Maine to the central Gulf Coast and the Yucatán Peninsula. Although the presence of horseshoe crabs in southern Mississippi is known locally, there are limited data specific to the area and population, particularly regarding spawning and nesting habitat. Surveys of HSC presence, habitat use, and behavior on Mississippi barrier islands were conducted between March and November 2007 to 2009. These data, combined with habitat surveys of the barrier islands, were used to characterize HSC use of these islands. Horseshoe crabs were present on barrier island beaches from March to November, but active spawning and nesting occurred primarily in April and May. Peak abundance varied by year but not between islands surveyed. Nesting activity was only observed on the north side of both islands and was generally clustered in areas with a mild elevation profile. In comparison to other studied populations both in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and along the U.S. Atlantic coast, HSC nesting on Mississippi barrier islands followed generally similar patterns, but did display some important differences. Nesting was highest in low energy, well oxygenated habitat, which included the sub-tidal sand flats that are common along these islands. In addition, HSC are smaller than the range-wide mean reported in the literature, but that may be related to these islands being close to the edge of the reported HSC range in the GOM. The continued existence of HSC in Mississippi appears tied to their preference for barrier island beaches as spawning and nursery habitat. More research is needed, but this study documents that the distribution of HSC nesting habitat includes Mississippi beaches and this should be considered as a part of restoration plans being evaluated for these barrier islands.

show abstract

Limits on the Global Distribution of Horseshoe Crabs (Limulacea): Lessons Learned from Two Lifetimes of Observations: Asia and America

Cited by 77 publications

References 18 publications

Socio‐demographic drivers and public perceptions of consumption and conservation of Asian horseshoe crabs in northern Beibu Gulf, China

Socio‐demographic drivers and public perceptions of consumption and conservation of Asian horseshoe crabs in northern Beibu Gulf, China

Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda and Tachypleus tridentatus (Xiphosura, Arthropoda) and Implications for Chelicerate Phylogenetic Studies

An Evaluation of Mississippi Barrier Islands as a Spawning and Nesting Habitat for the American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus, with Implications for Island Restoration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About